Gloria Choi smiles as she sits on a sofa in her office. The background. with flowers on a table. is blurred.
April 2, 2025
Gloria Choi earns Samsung Ho-Am Prize for Medicine
A black and white image shows sections of neural dendrites which appear as long thin lines with many small bumps along them.
February 20, 2025
Study suggests new molecular strategy for treating fragile X syndrome
White blocks are arranged in a circle on a blue background. Black arrows on the blocks follow the direction of the circle (clockwise). At three points along the circle, yellow blocks intercede with arrows pointing outward from the circle of white blocks.
February 18, 2025
Even after learning the right idea, humans and animals still seem to test other approaches, study suggests
A saggital cross section of a mouse brain is richly stained in three distinct colors in three distinct areas: yellow in the very front and about halfway toward the back; green in a large area toward the front and cyan across wide areas, especially the cerebellum in the back
January 24, 2025
MIT method enables ultrafast protein labeling of tens of millions of densely packed cells in organ-scale tissues
Emery N. Brown stands in front of a wall. Superimposed on the image next to him is a picture of the front of the National Medal of Science, which depicts a man kneeling and drawing an abstract character in the ground next to him as he contemplates an object.
January 3, 2025
Emery N. Brown, innovative neuroscientist, statistician and anesthesiologist earns National Medal of Science

Fellowship supports student’s work to advance Alzheimer’s research and equity

July 9, 2024
Picower People
With strong personal motivation and up to three years of support from the HHMI Gilliam Fellows Program, graduate student Mingus Rae Zoller will probe mysteries of Alzheimer’s and its possible treatment.

Award will enable detailed study of an organism that constantly adds new neurons

July 8, 2024
Picower People
With an eye on implications for regenerative medicine, Assistant Professor Brady Weissbourd will use the support of being named a Searle Scholar to study how jellyfish excel at building and regenerating their neural networks.

Fellowship enables study of how the brain makes memories of places

July 1, 2024
Picower People
With a new Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship in Neuroscience, Assistant Professor Linlin Fan will seek to strengthen understanding of how neural connections change to encode memories of specific locations.

Pew award will fund study of neural role in respiratory disease

June 18, 2024
Picower People
As a newly named Pew Biomedical Scholar, Assistant Professor Sara Prescott and her lab plan to test whether and how neurons have a role in airway remodeling, which goes awry in many diseases.

Technologies enable 3D imaging of whole human brain hemispheres at subcellular resolution

June 13, 2024
Research Findings
A suite of three innovations by an MIT-based team enables high-throughput imaging of human brain tissue at a full range of scales and mapping connectivity of neurons at single cell resolution.

Consciousness

June 12, 2024
Research Feature
Emerging evidence shows how brain waves help to knit our internal thoughts and external awareness together into an organized, unified whole

With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity

June 7, 2024
Research Findings
New camera chip design allows for optimizing each pixel’s timing to maximize signal to noise ratio when tracking real-time visual indicator of neural voltage

Microscope system sharpens scientists’ view of neural circuit connections

June 4, 2024
Research Findings
A newly described technology improves the clarity and speed of using two-photon microscopy to image synapses in the live brain

Study models how ketamine’s molecular action leads to its effects on the brain

May 20, 2024
Research Findings
New research addresses a gap in understanding how ketamine’s impact on individual neurons leads to pervasive and profound changes in brain network function.

How the brain is flexible enough for a complex world (without being thrown into chaos)

May 13, 2024
Research Findings
Many neurons exhibit “mixed selectivity.” They can integrate multiple inputs and participate in multiple computations. Mechanisms such as oscillations and neuromodulators recruit their participation and tune them to focus on the relevant information.

Autism symptoms sometimes improve amid fever, so a research team will study how to make that a therapy

May 8, 2024
New Research
With support from The Marcus Foundation, an MIT neuroscientist and a Harvard Medical School immunologist will study the “fever effect” in an effort to devise therapies that mimic its beneficial effects.

In the brain, bursts of beta rhythms implement cognitive control

April 23, 2024
Research Findings
Bursts of brain rhythms with “beta” frequencies control where and when neurons in the cortex process sensory information and plan responses. Studying these bursts would improve understanding of cognition and clinical disorders, researchers write.